Coin container clip



J 1937- s. cuNNlNel-lAm 2,033, 117

I com CONTAINER CLIP Filed March 19, 1935 IN V EN TOR.

70 62 2822 aaam'z iam 4242/54, ATTORNEY-S.

Patented June 8, 1937 UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE COIN CONTAINER CLIP Stephen Cunningham, New York, N. Y.

Application March 19, 1935, Serial No. 11,889

1 Claim..

This invention relates to a coin container clip of the type in which a coin may be readily inserted and withdrawn as needed and which coin container clip may be readily attached to an article of wearing apparel, pocketbook or the like, for convenient accessibility.

Various types of coin receptacles have been suggested in the prior art for mounting on or attachment to articles of wearing apparel, but they were of such a construction as either to be difiicult of operation or of such nature as to detract from the appearance of the article or garment on which they were placed. Some of the proposed types, while possibly mechanically satisfactory as originally designed, were of such construction that the various elements were readily bent or otherwise mutilated in normal usage so as to be inefiective to form a safe receptacle for the coin, or coins.

It is accordingly among the objects of the instant invention to provide a coin container clip that may be readily attached to any article of wearing apparel so as to be conveniently accessible to the user as, for instance, on the edge of a pocket, a handbag, or other similar position, and. which will, when in place, form an attractive decoration rather than a disfiguring, unsightly, mechanical contrivance.

A further object includesthe provision of a coin container clip which may be used in the nature of an. article of jewelry and which will, when in normal use, not be subjected to mutilation by contact with other articles or other portions of wearing apparel.

' An additional object includes theprcvision of a coin container clip provided with spring elements to hold the coin in place and in which the spring elements are protected from accidental mutilation.

With these and other objects in view, which will be apparent from the sequent description, this invention comprises a coin container clip which is illustrated as to preferred embodiments in the accompanying drawing, wherein similar reference numerals refer to similar parts and in which:

Figure lis a prespective view of one modification of the coin container clip;

Figures 2 to 5 show plan views of the blank out of which the clip of the modification shown in Fig. 1 is constructed, in various successive stages of manufacture;

Figure 6 is a view of the top of a double clip;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a modified or second embodiment of the coin container clip; Figures 8, 9, 11, and 12 are plan views of the blank and the various stages of manufactureto which theblank is subjected to produce the clip illustrated more particularly in Fig. 7;

Figure is a side View of the blank of Fig. 9; and

Figure 13 is a perspectiveview showing the rear of the modification of Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the modification shown in Figs. 1-5, the clip comprises a base member 2 with sides 4 extending upwardly from the base member 2 along two opposite sides thereof. Extending inwardly over and substantially parallel to the base member 2 from the top edge of the sides 4 are flanges 6 which serve to hold the coin from displacement away from the base member 2. A bottom edge 8 of the base member 2 may be generally circular to follow the general contour of a coin when placed in the receptacle. Attached to and preferably as part of the base member 2 are spring elements H] which serve as resilient spring members to hold the coin in place. The spring elements Ill are attached below the sides 4 and flanges 6 and preferably converge toward each other for providing a bottom stop for the coin. They may be made sufficiently long to project slightly beyond theupper edges of the sides 4 and the flanges 6.

Integral with" the base member 2 may be a substantial extension l2 that is reversely bent as at M, until it is substantially parallel. with the base member 2, forming a resilient spring fastening means to engage the edge of a pocket, handbag or the like and by means of which the coin container clip is firmly but detachably secured to the article. As will be evident, the coin container clip may be put onto the edge of an object either with the coin exposed or with the backing member l2 exposed. In the event that it is desired to expose the backing member IE, it may be formed in any suitable shape and provided with suitable decoration l6, Fig. 13, such as the, owners initial on the exposed face, or a superimposed decoration in rhinestones, galalith, wood or other materials used for the decoration of novelty jewelry, so as to form an attractive ornament similar to a piece of jewelry. Like wise the flanges 6 and exposed portion'of extension IZ and the base 2 at 8 may be finished with decorative material.

The coin container clip as illustrated in the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 is conveniently made from a flat metal blank designated generally as 20 in Fig. 2. The flat blank is roughly spadeshaped with projections Ill for the resilient spring elements which are attached to the base member 2 near the bottom portion 8 along a short line 22 and separated from base member 2 and sides 4 as well as flanges 6 by a slot 24.

With the blank stamped out as shown in Fig. 8, the first operation involves shaping and putting the spring elements In into place. They are first bent at right angles to the base 2 along the lines 22, after which the spring element I0 is bent in the form of an arc with a small reverse bend H at the end in order to easily receive a coin.

After the spring element 16 has been bent into proper position, the sides 4 are raised by bending along the lines 26v so that the blank, as viewed from on top, is similar to that shown in Fig. 4.

The last operation is that of bending the flanges 6 along the lines 28 until the flange 6 is parallel with the base member 2, whereupon the coin container clip is complete with the exception of the means for attaching it to the support, which may be simply an extension l2 from the base member 2, as illustrated in Fig. 1; or some other means as isknown in the art may be provided.

The embodiment of the coin clip illustrated in Figs. 7 to 11 is generally similar to that illustrated in Fig. 1, except that the spring elements 50 instead of being attached directly to the base member 2 form an extension of the side portions 4. As will be noted from Fig. 8, the blank from which this embodiment is constructed is roughly diamond-shaped, with the spring elements 50 projecting downwardly from almost the extreme edges. To form the coin container clip in the embodiment of Fig. 7 from a blank of the type illustrated in Fig. 8, the first step involves bending the resilient spring member 50 alongthe line 52 a short distance from the juncture of the spring element 50 and the side 4, which produces a structure as illustrated in Fig. 9. The next operation includes bending the spring element along the line 54' until it assumes the form shown in Fig. 10 with an arcuate portion 56 and a slight reverse bend 58 for convenient insertion of the coin without binding.

When the spring element 50 has been shaped as illustrated in Fig. 10, the coin container clip is completed by bending the sides 4 upright from the base 2 along the lines 26 and bending the flanges 6 at right angles to the sides 4along the lines 28 until the flanges 6 are parallel to the base 2 and form a protecting shield for the spring element 50.

The various steps to produce the completed container clip have been described as applied to only one half of the article, but it will be understood that the other half is similarly worked. Furthermore, instead of performing each operation as a single step, it would be possible to produce the article by a machine which might perform practically all of the operations substantially simultaneously or in a somewhat different order. Although the coin container clip may, as suggested, he made from a single piece of metal, it might be otherwise constructed. If a relatively inelastic metal were used the spring elements might be soldered or otherwise attached to the base. i

As will be evident from the constructions shown in the embodiments of Figs. 1 and 7, the opposed side elements 4 provide substantial protection for the edges of the coin container element and stop means for the spring elements 10 and 50. The overlying flanges 6 act to retain the coin from displacement away from the base member 2 and also as guide means for the resilient spring elements I0 and 50 so that the spring elements [0 and 50 will not be caught on other portions of the clothing and be spread open so widely as not to form any resilient support for a coin, but instead are amply protected on all exposed sides.

In Fig. 6 is illustrated a top view of a coin container clip in which there are two coin containers so that a coin is accessible on both the inside and outside or both sides of the edge to which the coin container clip is attached. It will be understood, of course, that the two coin containers may be made according to either the embodiments of Fig. l or Fig. '7, as may be desired.

Instead of formingan attaching clip by an extension of the base member 2 with a reverse bend M to provide a backing l2, as illustrated in Fig. 1, various other types of jewelry clips or the like, which may be ornamented, may be employed, for example, the type illustrated in Fig. 12, in which there is attached to the base member 2 a. forked bracket 60 into which is pivoted a lever 62 having at its free end sharp projections 64 which may be struck therefrom to penetrate through the material of the support. The lever 62 is normally retained in parallelism with the base 2 by a spring element 66 mounted on the inside of the lever 62 and extending through an opening to the outside beyond the pivot and to a stub 68 which normally holds the lever 62 resiliently in place.

It'will thus be evident that this invention comprises a coin container clip which may be readily constructed with a few simple operations and that in its final form is of considerable durability for holding one or more coins in a place permitting convenient access. The number of coins which a given container clip will handle is dependent simply upon the height of the sides 4.

By constructing the clip member of suitable material and with proper ornamentation, this member may be made very attractive and put on the exposed portion of the supporting surface as would any type of clip not possessing the added function of keeping a coin readily accessible.

The invention has been described as to certain preferred embodiments thereof which should be considered as illustrative rather than restrictive of the invention which is to be limited only in the light of the prior art and the appended claim.

I claim:

A coin container comprising a base having upturned sides with inturned flanges, coin engaging members resiliently secured at their lower portions to the base, at points below said inturned flanges, said coin engaging members extending underneath said flanges and projecting beyond the upper and lower edges of said flanges, and being limited in their spreading movement by said upturned sides. 

